Clamp for electrical purposes



(No Model.)

W. S. PLATT.

GLAMP FOR ELECTRICAL PURPOSES.

' No. 313,616. Patented Mar. 10,1885.,

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CLAMP FOR ELECTRICAL PURPOSES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 313,616, dated March 10, 1885.

Application filed May 15, 1884.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM S. PLATT, a citizen of the United States, residing at W'aterbury, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Clamps for Electrical Purposes; and I do hereby declare the following to be a fulhclear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to certain novel and useful improvements in devices for forming and keeping a contact between the current wires of the electrodes of a voltaic battery and the line-wire, and has for its object to insure a positive connection and to provide a device for accomplishing this end which shall be simple in construction and ready of adaptation; and with these ends in view my invention consists in the details of construction and combination ofelements, hereinafter fully explained, and then specifically designated by the claim.

In order that those skilled in the art to which my invention appertains may more ful- 1y understand the construction and operation of my improvement,l will proceed to describe the same in detail, referring by letter to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which Figure 1 is an edge elevation of my improved clamp with the line and current wires connected thereto; Fig. 2, a plan view of the same; Fig. 3, an edge elevation of my improved clamp, constructed and adapted to accommodate various sizes of wire; and Fig. 4 illustrates my improvement in slightly modified forms.

Similar letters denote like parts in the several figures of the drawings.

A is my improved clamp, formed by doubling over upon itself a piece of thin sheet spring metal of good conductivity. Through the free ends of the loop thus formed the line-wire B (No model.)

is passed and secured as against withdrawal by twisting, as shown, or in any other suitable manner. A loose connection will thereby be made between the clamp and line-wire. The sides of the clamp are preferably bellied, as shown at C, so as to form a pocket for the wire to prevent the latter from slipping or being shifted. Several of these pockets may be formed of various sizes to accommodate wires of different gages, as shown at Fig. 2.

D is the current-wire, which is inserted'between the sides of the clamp and at any suitable part thereof, thereby spreading the free ends of the clamp and forcing them against the line-wire,so that a perfect connection is insured.

By constructing the clamp so that one of the ends slightly overlaps the other and attaching the line-wire to the overlapping end, as shown at Fig. 4., the result aimed at may be attained, since the insertion of the current wire will force the short endof the clamp against the line-wire. One of the great ad vantages of clamps constructed in accordance with my improvement, is that the current-wire is constantly abraded by inserting within the clamp which insures good conductivity.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

A clamp for electrical purposes, consisting of a thin strip of sheet spring metal of good conductivity doubled upon itself and adapted to be loosely connected at its free ends to the line-wire and to receive and retain the ourren -wire between its sides, whereby a closer 1 and more rigid connection with the line-wire may be established, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I my signature in presence of two witnesses.

XVILLIAM S. PLATT.

Witnesses:

D. F. WEBs'rER, C. M. PLATT. 

